The Chamber of Commerce and the Brussels arts centre iMAL agree to collaborate to promote the Spain Brand
On 11 October, iMAL, the Art Centre for Digital Cultures and Technology in Brussels, and the Official Spanish Chamber of Commerce in Belgium signed a collaboration agreement.
The aim of the agreement is, on one hand, to raise awareness of Spanish artists, creators and creative industries in Belgium and, on the other hand, to serve as a platform for dissemination to other countries through the different European networks to which both organisations belong.
Likewise, the members of the Chamber will be able to benefit from free tickets for the centre’s exhibitions, discounts for the participation in workshops and festivals, and the rental of spaces for events.
In addition, during the meeting, the general director, Lucía García, and the artistic director, Ana Ascencio, gave a guided tour of iMAL’s facilities to the President of the Chamber and the general secretary, who were able to see its state-of-the-art FabLab workshop, and learn first-hand about the new project of the Spanish digital artist Félix Luque.
New Board of Directors of the Spanish Charity Assotiation in Belgium
The SEBB is a charitable institution which, set up at the beginning of the 20th century, serves, as far as it is able, the needs, both material and moral, of the Spanish people in Belgian territory.
The Board of Directors, which governs the activities of the SEBB, is made up of volunteers of Belgian and Spanish nationality.
The Honorary Presidency is held by the Ambassador to the Kingdom of Belgium.
In her capacity as Honorary President, the Ambassador, Beatriz Larrotcha Palma, convened the General Assembly which, meeting on 16 July, dealt, as a matter of priority, with the renewal of the Board of Directors.
For reasons of age, the following resigned from their posts: the President, Carmen Gómez de Olea de Felsenhart, the Treasurer, Nieves Calatayud de Glanard and the Judge, Hubert Preiser.
The Assembly elected María José Cano Alemán as President. Manuel Menéndez Barrero, a member of the Chamber’s CA, continues as Vice President. Our President, Juan Rodríguez-Villa Matons, joins the Board of Directors as Treasurer.
The Chamber of Commerce, as the spokesperson for a significant part of Spanish civil society in Belgium, expresses its admiration and gratitude to the three outgoing members for the dedication, commitment and generosity that, over several decades, have made it possible to alleviate the economic and moral problems of Spaniards in need.
The Chamber collaborates with the Cercle Antonio Machado to organize the 20th Spanish Film Festival in Luxembourg
This year, the Chamber is part of the entities and companies collaborating with the Spanish Film Festival in Luxembourg. In the twentieth edition of this initiative led by the Spanish Cultural Circle Antonio Machado, ten cinema sessions will be organized between March 20 and April 11 at Cine Utopia, Cinemateca and Kulturfabrik (Esch-sur-Alzette).
The Spanish Embassy in Luxembourg and the following companies: Transportes Fernandez, Hotel Meliá, Senda Consulting, Leiw Investments, El Rubio, BIT Valley and Dlinea, are also collaborating to organize this festival, which enables to bring the best of the Spanish seventh art to the Luxembourg public.
The Spanish Ambassador in Luxembourg, Bernardo de Sicart, inaugurated the Spanish Film Festival during the session of March 20, in which the short films “17 años juntos” and “Campeones”, both directed by Javier Fesser, were screened.
More information about the program here.
With the sponsorship of the Spanish Embassy
And the collaboration of:
The Chamber supports the Three Wise Men Day celebration in Belgium
With the sponsorship of Santander Consumer Bank and the support of the Board of Directors and the General Secretary of the Chamber, on Saturday, January 12, the traditional Three Wise Men Day took place, which we annually organize in the Boudewijn Seapark (Dolphinarium) of the city of Bruges.
The initiative of this event responds, certainly, to our interpretation of corporate social responsibility, as a voluntary contribution to the welfare of families who, because of emigration, run the risk of abandoning the tradition of the beloved Three Wise Men Day.
Over the past few years, the event is also aimed at families of refugees, hosted by the OCMW institution of the City Council of Bruges.
This year King Baltasar did not make the appointment and the Mayor of Bruges, Dirk De Fauw, represented him.
Baltasar De Fauw explained to the children the story lived more than two thousand years ago. Likewise, he justified the reason why the Three Wise Men, St Nicolas and Santa Claus shared the task of offering gifts to children during the Christmas season.
From the Chamber we would like thank to the Mayor De Fauw and Councilman Franky Demon for their support.
The Chamber supports the Three Wise Men Day in Belgium
As every year, the Three Wise Men, on their way back home, they stop in Bruges to give their presents to the Spanish-speaking children living in Belgium.
The Official Spanish Chamber of Commerce in Belgium and Luxembourg, has taken part, one more year, in the organization of this special event.
The past Saturday 13th January, the event took place at the Bruges Dolphinarium (Boudewijn Seapark) where hundreds of children who have been dreaming for a year about this moment were gifted by the Three Wise Men with candy and presents.
A breakfast, an “indoor” amusement park, a dolphin show, a lunch and an afternoon snack were the perfect way of having a magic day for the families of the Latin American immigrants in Belgium, especially for their children. Also, children from refugees families living in Brugge attended to this remarkable event.
We shared the slogan “Not a single child without a toy”. Together we can achieve it.
The Chamber thanks the collaboration of all the individual participants and sponsor companies, and specially the contribution of ASBL FAMILLES DU MONDE: https://famillesdumonde.eu/
The Chamber collaborates with the organization of the Three Wise Men party
Last Saturday January 14th the Three Wise Men party was celebrated in the Boudewijn park in Bruges. Between the assistants, there were more than a hundred Spanish-speaking children living in Belgium and many families from all around the region. The celebration of the Three Wise Men or Epiphany Day is the same as St. Nicholas Day, which is celebrated in Belgium every December 6th. As every year, the Chamber participated in the organization of such endearing event.
The eleventh edition of this celebration, hosted by Juan Rodríguez, president of the Official Chamber of Commerce of Spain in Belgium and Luxembourg, was organized inside the park. During the event, a lunch, a concert and a festival of games were offered inside the park, ending with an ice-skating session for everyone.
New collaboration between Radio Alma and the Official Spanish Chamber of Commerce in Belgium and Luxembourg
With the objective of promoting and spreading the Chamber’s and its companies members’ activity in Belgium, the Chamber will start a new collaboration with Radio Alma. The Chamber will count on a weekly program in which the members who are interested in participating will have the chance to speak to the listeners and comment their professional experience in the country.
Radio Alma, the “Mediterranean frequency”, was born in 1986 and it is a multicultural radio whose objective is to inform, integrate and encourage the contact between the different cultures which live together in Brussels with a collaboration and participation spirit. This radio addresses particularly the South European and Latin American communities; this is the reason why, apart from French, there are programs in Spanish, Portuguese, Greek and Italian. These programs are broadcasted on 101.9 FM or you can listen to them online, in http://www.radioalma.be/.
Radio Alma gives businesses an opportunity to be announced on their programs. Check the prices here.
We encourage our members to participate in this program and please don’t hesitate to contact the Chamber if you are interested in: info@e-camara.com.
Extension of the collaboration agreement with IBERIA – New On Business program
The Chamber is delighted to inform you that its collaboration agreement with IBERIA has been extended for one more year. IBERIA offers the following discounted fares to Spain and the America’s for the members of the Chamber:
· 10% in economy class
· 15% in business class
You can access this offer through our Intranet.
As a novelty, Iberia launched On Business for companies: A loyalty program allowing your company to save and to collect points for future reward tickets and upgrades. Every euro spent on travelling with Iberia, American Airlines, British Airways and partners can bring up to 1.5 points. Register your company in On Business and enjoy the welcome offer : Triple points on the 6 first sectors of your flights.
Click here for more information on discounts and On Business benefits.
Fernando Iwasaki Symposium – 15/16-02
On 15 and 16 February the first international symposium about the Peruvian writer Fernando Iwasaki took place at the Faculté de Lettres, Traduction et Communication at the Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB). This event has been made possible thanks to the collaboration of the ULB and the main Spanish and Peruvian institutions in Brussels (the Instituto Cervantes, the Consulate of Peru in Brussels, the Ministry of Education from Spain in Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg, the Ministry of Culture from the Spanish Embassy in Brussels and the Official Spanish Chamber of Commerce in Belgium and Luxembourg).
This symposium has raised strong interest and international speakers from Spain, France, Germany, the Netherlands and Croatia came by to discuss about the major aspects of his literary production.
The conference was opened on Monday 15 February at 2 PM with a roundtable of writers that discussed about the position of Fernando Iwasaki in the contemporary literary canon in which the author of Helarte de amar (2006)- who have been present during all the symposium- has been accompanied by two other Hispanic American writers: Edmundo Paz Soldán and Carlos Herera. Furthermore, the closing session took place at the Instituto Cervantes on Tuesday 16 February at 7 PM with a discussion between the writer and institution researchers and the event organizers: Fernando Díaz Ruiz and Lidia Morales Benito.
With the support and recognition of
